Episode 11: Chris Fitzgerald (Fiddle)

‘The Session is about what’s created during The Session.’

So I’m (me, Dom) sitting in The Last Jar on a Wednesday night, and the session is slowly coming to life. I’ve hidden myself away in a corner so I can listen, tentatively join in here and there, and hopefully not make an arse of myself. But mainly, I’m listening. And something happens…how can I describe this without it sounding over the top? Like, there are these simultaneous impressions washing around me. I’ve only been in Australia a few months, don’t feel like I know many people, I’m shy, introverted. And I’m hearing this music that’s familiar, yet distant because of how long it’s been since I played in any dedicated way. And there’s the smell of the beer and the rhythms of the chat and while I know rationally that I’m in Melbourne in 2018, in my blood – seriously, I don’t really talk about ‘blood’ type stuff but that’s what it felt like – in my blood I have these fleeting moments when feel like I’m in Ballycastle, in the Boyd Arms on a Friday night and it’s 1985. I mean, it’s so intense, and so momentary, I’m here, I’m there, I’m lost, I’m back again. And really, it’s totally brilliant. I mean, it’s so hard to walk back out into the everyday world after such that experience. Catching the train home seems so mundane after you’ve been set alight by this music all around you, and yet, that echoing music in your head is what you carry with you. And that’s why this stuff matters in the first place – because we it carry out into the world and hopefully that makes the world infinitesimally better somehow, even if you can’t put it into words, even if politics is shit and fascism’s on the march. Playing music, listening to music - it’s not quite manning the barricades but you have to hope and believe in your heart that it’s at least one tiny, tiny act of resistance. One tiny, tiny way of making a stand.

Thank you to Chris Fitzgerald and all the musicians at The Last Jar for their generosity and for… the tunes.

‘The Session is about what’s created during The Session.’

And thanks too to everybody who’s gone to patreon.com/blarneypilgrims and subscribed – we’re so grateful for your help in keeping this podcast rolling. I’m tempted to try out some oul’ public radio pledge drive lines from my past life in Seattle like, ‘You listen differently when you’re a subscriber.’

But I won’t.

If you can subscribe, great, and if you can’t that’s OK too.

Thank you for listening.

...

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Till next time.
Darren & Dom

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Om Podcasten

The Blarney Pilgrims Podcast is a weekly journey to the heart of Irish music. We interview players of Irish music about how they first came to the music and the place it occupies in their lives now. We use the word ‘heart’ intentionally, because heart is what this music, and the people who play it, are all about. It’s a funny, warm and often unexpected journey – and the tunes are crackin' too. NOTE: Hey there - it's Darren and Dom here. So...we want to let you know that last week was the last episode (Ep 94) of the Blarney Pilgrims Podcast for now. We've come to a point where we've both decided to take a long pause and focus on a few other things. Knowing how much the podcast means to you all, it's a decision we've been really reluctant to take. What we DO know is how massively grateful we are for every text, every thumbs up, every raised eyebrow of support we've had over the past two years. You are all legends, and we're forever in your debt. Thanks especially to everyone who's become a Patron Saint and supported us through the toughest of economic times, and thanks most especially to the musicians. To those who have been so generous to share their tunes and stories with us, and to those who've welcomed us into pub sessions and festival gatherings and house sessions and campsite sessions. Wherever in the world we've chatted with players of the music, we've been made to feel like lifelong pals. It's a testament to the open heartedness of the communities who keep the music going wherever they are, and we can't thank you all enough. We hope this archive will remain of use to people even as we're taking a pause. So - please do stay in touch, don't be a stranger, and if you see us out and about, do say hello. And we'll see you when we see you. Dom and Darren.